Briefly a Husky, Bernard Returns to Montlake with Michigan State

The UW coaching changes made him a recruiting casualty.

Dan Raley | Sep 15, 2022

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Washington Huskies

Germie Bernard posed for photos with Chris Petersen. Did all sorts of publicity shots wearing a University of Washington uniform. Stood in front of Husky Stadium during the pandemic for a snapshot with a pair of high school teammates who were all ready to play together in Seattle.

The wide receiver from Liberty High School in the Las Vegas area was the Huskies' top recruit and lauded as the best player in Nevada.

Bernard hung with his commitment even when those schoolboy teammates of his, Sir Mells and Anthony Jones, decided not to follow him to the UW after Husky defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski left for Texas and they ended up at Oregon.

This talented pass-catcher was still Husky-bound after the coaching staff switched over from Jimmy Lake to Kalen DeBoer last December, signing a national letter of intent and even enrolling in school in January.

However, when holdover receivers coach Junior Adams changed his mind on joining DeBoer's staff and left for Oregon, that was far too much change for the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Bernard to bear.

Representing by far the worst coaching-change collateral damage for the UW in the messy Lake divorce, he obtained his release from the school and headed for Michigan State. He was a Husky only for a month, in Seattle just for a few days.

Germie Bernard seemed genuinely excited about the prospects of being a game-breaker for the University of Washington football team, but too many coaching changes finally scared him off.

He could have gone anywhere with his speed and talent, but Germie Bernard seemed determined to play for the Huskies until things just got too complicated for him and he was done with that.

Chris Petersen's UW coaching staff first recruited Germie Bernard, Jimmy Lake's crew continued the pursuit and Kalen DeBoer signed him only to lose him to Michigan State.

In November 2020, Anthony Jones, Germie Bernard and Sir Mells all wanted to be Huskies. They flew up from Las Vegas on the weekend of the Arizona game and let themselves dream a little.

Liberty High teammates Anthony Jones, a two-way end, and Germie Bernard, ace wide receiver, were Husky commits when they posed for this photo. Jones is at Oregon now, Bernard at Michigan State.

Germie Bernard enrolled in the UW in January 2021, stayed a few days but didn't attend classes, and departed for Michigan State once Husky receivers coach Junior Adams left for Oregon. Bernard was able to change schools without penalty.

DYNAMIC DEBUT :: Matthew Dae Smith/USA TODAY Sports

Germie Bernard got everyone in East Lansing, Michigan, excited when he scored the Spartans' first points of the season on a 44-yard reception on his first college play.

MICHIGAN IS HOME :: Janfu Han/USA TODAY Sports

Germie Bernard seems happy to be at the Big Ten school and the Michigan State fans understand they landed a first-rate talent in this Nevada kid.

SPEED DEMON :: Janfu Han/USA TODAY Sports

Germie Bernard puts it into an extra gear to run away from the Western Michigan secondary. The freshman comes to Seattle with 3 catches for 73 yards and this score.

On Saturday, Bernard will finally play in Husky Stadium, but he'll be wearing a visiting uniform for the Spartans, conjuring up all sorts of what-if comments among the local fan base.

He's still really good, scoring Michigan State's first points of the season on his first scrimmage play as a collegian by streaking 44 yards with a reception in a 35-13 victory over Western Michigan. He has 3 catches for 73 yards in two games, and they won't be his last.

Husky wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who has 3 scoring catches in two games so far, remembers their brief interaction nine months ago.

"We weren't close friends, but we were close in that we texted a lot," McMillan said. "He came over to the crib the day, I want to say the day Junior left, or the day after Junior left. We've talked before."

As the new UW coach, DeBoer did his best to get a home visit with Bernard in Henderson, Nevada, receive his scholarship paperwork and get him into Montlake before losing him.

“He’s a great kid, a great kid, a great football player, I really enjoyed getting to know him,” DeBoer said diplomatically this week.

Sensing opportunity, Michigan State offensive coordinator Jay Johnson attempted to flip Bernard right from the outset following Lake's firing, but the receiver initially resisted these efforts.

“My decision of leaving or staying at Washington was kind of based off my position coach, Coach Adams,” Bernard told reporters in February. “So when he said he was going to stay, I was like ‘I’m sorry Coach Jay, I just think I’m going to stay.’ ”

Yet once Adams left, Bernard did the same, only he surprisingly didn't follow Junior to Oregon, where his two high school teammates were headed, too. Michigan State it was.

Since he hadn't attended any UW classes, Bernard could go elsewhere without penalty and he ended up with the Big Ten team without having to do any outside negotiating.

“There was a lot going on, coaching staff changes, not just with myself but position coach changes and so forth,” DeBoer said. “He was trying to figure out where to go and it was in a short amount of time.”

So for a moment on Saturday, the Huskies will rue what they lost and Bernard can look around Montlake on game day and see if he has any regrets. Otherwise, it's football as usual.

"I'm going to let him play his game and, you know, I'll play mine," McMillan said, "and we'll see each other after the game."

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Published Sep 15, 2022

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.